I didn’t get a chance to tell you yesterday about our time at BookPeople. We stopped in over the weekend for our regular date night and to catch up on the latest magazines and books. I think I’ve gushed quite a bit about how much I love BookPeople but I don’t know if I’ve told you about the one section that I really like — the historical fiction shelves.
Yep, they have several shelves devoted to historical fiction and I really like those. Well, I like a lot of their other sections but on this visit this is where I spent most of my time. I had a little journal, a pen and I started collecting titles that I want to check out one of these days.
Here are the books that I’ve added to that ever-growing list. If you’ve read one of these let me know your thoughts.
- The Disorder of Longing by Natasha Bauman. Victorian Boston and a quest for real love and orchids.
- Why She Married Him by Myriam Chapman. A tale of Tsarist Russia and the belle epoch Paris.
- The Spiritualist by Megan Chance. Mystery and the occult.
- Bluebird, or the Invention of Happiness by Sheila Kohler. Fleeing the French Revolution.
- The Witches Trinity by Erika Mailman. Germany and a witch hunt.
- Bedlam by Greg Hollingshead. Madness and paranoia in London.
- A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock. Rocking the foundations of the monarchy.
- The Wise Woman by Philippa Gregory. A novel of magic.
- The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein. Re-imagining the life of Pan Yuliang.
- The Perfect Summer by Juliet Nicolson. The twilight of the Edwardian era.
Have you read a good historical recently? Let me know what else I should add to my list.
I’m still reading The Painter From Shanghai, which I left in Hong Kong for my sister and bought another copy when I returned. It’s an intriguing story that’s based on a true story.
How wonderful that the bookstore has a section designated to historical fiction! If there is such a section in mine, you’ll certainly find me there as well!
I LOVE historical fiction. I’m going to have to add some of these books to my list, too.
What a great list! The Witches Trinity is especially tantalizing. I haven’t read any historical fiction lately. I must fix that!
I’ve read Why She Married Him. For me, it was good, but not great. From the title, you can see that you already know how it ends. I am v. interested in A Foreign Affair and Bedlam, and have The Perfect Summer on my stacks. But I thought it (Perfect Summer) was nonfiction. Will have to look again.
I love that they have the section separate from regular fiction. It makes it easier to find! How clever.
Ooh, The Spiritualist sounds especialy intriguing!
I love that they have these on their own shelf. You are being a very bad influence with ALL these book recommendations!! 😉 More to add to the list….
Matt – I thought that title looked familiar. I think I heard about it on your blog! Was it hard to get back into the story after you left your book for a while?
nik – You’ll have to keep us posted if you read any of these!
Stefanie – I’ve seen a few books lately dealing with witches trials and stuff. very intriguing and to think that this is based on true events. eep!
Tara – Not sure if Perfect Summer is non-fic. Maybe they just put in in with the others by mistake. I’ll have to check it out again!
Isabel – I know, it’s so nice isn’t it? Not many bookstores do that.
Andi – It does!
Christine – Me too! And, you know I love being a bad influence 🙂
I haven’t even heard of any of those! You are so lucky. We don’t have a decent bookstore for browsing. I love the t-shirt “Keep Austin Weird.” Yeah, baby.
Is this store a chain? I love that they have a section for just historical fiction–I’d love that! I decided to start The Spiritualist. I’ve only read about ten pages so far, but it looks like it will be good. I also have the Caro Peacock and the Nicholson books on my TBR piles. Now I need to check out the other titles!
My husband, son, and I are heading to Austin this weekend and I can’t wait to go to Bookpeople!
Nancy, aka Bookfool – Well, I’m finally lucky now! I mean Dallas had a bunch of B&N and Borders (which I love of course) but it’s so nice to support indie bookstores you know. Oh and isn’t that tshirt great? I’ve got my Keep Austin Weird coffee mug 🙂
Danielle – No, it’s an indie. It’s really nice and they have a great gift section too. I believe they sell a lot of jewelry, cards, etc. made by Austin artists. So very cool. Will look forward to your review of The Spiritualist!
Somer – Ooh I hope you guys have a blast! BookPeople is great. I’m sure you guys will find tons of fun things to do in Austin 🙂
I want to add things to my list! I recommend ‘In the Company of the Courtesan’ by Sarah Dunant. Brilliant tale of a woman and her companion trying to survive in Italy. I’d also completly forgotten about Dianne Norman’s great books until recently (because I’d forgotten her anme and couldn’t trace her down on Amaazon). The Vizard Mask and Blood Royal are both great books with strong female characters.
Jodie – I’m adding those to my list. I hadn’t heard about Vizard Mask or Blood Royal. I have the Dunant book on my list for some time now. I’ve read one of her books (modern setting) and thought it was great so I don’t know why I haven’t gone back to check out another of her books!
I read The Spiritualist and really enjoyed it. It was a little twist on historical fiction, with the addition of the paranormal. It was a very good read. I reviewed it here:
http://nbbaker1102.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/thespiritualist-a-novel/